Just when the New Thirty-eighth Division of the New First Army won a decisive victory in the battle against Japan in Bamo, Sun Liren took another move of "high chess" - ordering the 30th Division, as the reserve of the New First Army, to bypass Bamo by Momark, enter Manxi, and launch an attack on Nankan.
Nankan, located in the easternmost part of northern Myanmar, close to the China-Myanmar border, is connected to Ba mo in the northwest, longling in the northeast, and Lashio in the south; it is the intersection between Ba Mo and The town of Qi, and it is also the key point to open the China-India Highway.
Ba Mo, headquarters of the New First Army.
It was a straw hut, the outhouse was the General Staff Headquarters, and a military map of Nankan hung on the yellow mud wall inside. For a time, the small headquarters gathered many senior generals of the New First Army. Sun Liren, Tang Shouzhi, Wen Xiaoshan, Chen Shaoheng, Chen Mingren... Under the meeting, the excitement was extraordinary. On this day, Sun Liren was cleanly groomed and appeared dashing. He used a bamboo pole to dot the map on the yellow mud wall and said: "Nankan, its terrain is a narrow valley, the north has the Ruili River running through the city, surrounded by high mountains and mountains. After the Japanese army invaded northern Burma, it has been stationed here with heavy troops. A few days ago, in order to strengthen the defensive force in Nankan, the Japanese army sent reinforcements from Goryeo into northern Burma to prepare for a dying battle with our troops stationed in India. Speaking of this, Sun Liren glanced at Tang Shouzhi, commander of the Thirtieth Division, and said in an aggravated tone, "Master Tang, this bone is difficult to gnaw!" "
Tang Shouzhi smiled slightly, and replied with a thick Hunan accent: "It is difficult to gnaw, so I smashed the bones and ate them." The people present burst into a burst of cheerful laughter.
Sun Liren also laughed and said, "Well said! To smash this bone, we first have to have iron tongs and hammers. I have prepared these two things for the Japanese army in Nankan. Everyone listened intently to Sun Liren's explanation.
Sun Liren continued: "In view of the high mountains and sanitation around Nankan, the low-lying flat terrain in the middle is characteristic. The army decided to adopt the tactics of two wings and surprise attacks, first capturing the commanding heights around Nankan. He paused for a moment and then explained: "The two wings are the iron tongs we prepared for the Japanese army, and the surprise attack is the hammer we prepared for the Japanese army!" "Next, he made overall arrangements for everyone: the Eighty-eighth regiment and the ninetieth regiment of the Thirty-eighth Division were on the left flank and attacked from the front along both sides of the road; the Eighty-ninth Regiment was the right wing, secretly passing through the mountains and forests from the 5338 plateau to the south and occupying the peak behind Nankan; and the 114th Regiment of the New Thirty-eighth Division made a secret and far-reaching detour to raid the enemy's right rear."
By the time the meeting was over, it was already dark. Sun Liren first sent away the commanders of the 114th Regiment and other troops, and then returned to instruct Tang Shouzhi and Deputy Division Commander Wen Xiaoshan, as well as Deputy Division Commander and Director of the Political Department Chen Shaoheng: "We must take the 5338 Highlands!" Take this high ground, and the Battle of Nankan will live. "
Eight Mo is more than a hundred kilometers away from Nankan, and the 88th and 90th Regiments advance along the "Eight South" Highway while clearing mines, and everywhere you can see bad cars, dead horses, and remains discarded by the enemy when retreating... It's a mess. Towards dusk, the southwest wind blew in, dispelling the sweltering heat. The afterglow of the setting sun is smeared with brilliant colors on the mountains and peaks near and far. At this time, the vanguard troops had marched to the Kangma and Nanyu areas not far from the 5338 Highlands. Suddenly, there was a dense sound of gunfire in front of me. Enemy! Chen, commander of the Eighty-eighth Regiment, interrogated the search company through a wireless telephone. The commander of the search company Yu replied indifferently: "Nothing, just a small group of scattered enemies." "
Ten minutes later, gunfire in the Kangma and Nanyu areas was loud, and there was also the sound of earth-shaking cannons. Commander Chen, with the professional sensitivity of the soldiers, immediately realized that the front was not to disperse the enemy, but to meet the main force of the Japanese army. Commander Chen's judgment was correct.
The enemies of Kangma and Nanyu were indeed the main forces of the Japanese army. It turned out that the Japanese army of Bamo was in a hurry, forcing the commander of the Japanese army in Nankan, Shiro Yamazaki Daisa, to lead more than 2,000 Japanese troops, including those who had just been transferred from Korea, to reinforce Hachimo. Due to the rapid progress of the Thirtieth Division, the enemy and we met here.
Dong Zhenduo's collection of the December 20, 1944 Ta Kung Pao war correspondent reported the following: "On December 3, the Chen Regiment of the 30th Division encountered the enemy under the Kangma Mountain at an altitude of 5338 meters. At the beginning of the contact, the enemy situation was not fully understood. Judging by the information obtained at that time, there were indeed not many enemies. Our army then thought that the enemy was just a sentry defending Nankan. Although he did not have the heart of the enemy lightly, he did not take the enemy to heart, always thinking that the big war was still ahead, and it only took three or five rounds here to solve the battle. I did not expect that the enemy would quietly and continuously reinforce in large quantities, and even perform a fierce battle. "
When Commander Chen saw the sudden change in the enemy's situation, he immediately led the main force of the Eighty-eighth Regiment and preemptively captured the crucial 5338 Heights on the west side of the Eight South Highway with a rapid offensive. Kangma, a Japanese position.
Yamazaki Shiro held his sword in his hand to face the Indian garrison on the 5338 heights, and arrogantly said to the officer next to him: "Let the opposite China army be the live cannon target of the imperial army!" "
A Japanese army young man followed up with a shout: "Our revenge in northern Burma can be repaid here!" "
Shiro Yamazaki's arrogance has his origins. He had more than two years of experience in burma and was well versed in the terrain of the battle. Yamazaki chose Kangma, a condescending stronghold that could be attacked or retreated. There was a lot of supplies and bullets stored here, and many hidden artillery positions were preset. Each gun port was clearly and accurately facing the Eight South Highway and the Quemo Trail.
Since December 4, the Eighty-eighth and Ninety Regiments and the Japanese Yamazaki Shiro's troops have been fighting fiercely for several days, and both sides have made heavy sacrifices, and neither of them has been able to move forward. On December 9, dawn broke. Kangma Japanese positions, boom! A cannon sounded. The shells roared through the fog. Brown clouds of explosive smoke rose up on the 5338 heights of the Indian army. In an instant, countless arcs of light flew from the Japanese positions, and the shells exploded like flying locusts in the 5338 highlands, and the entire 5338 highlands suddenly turned into a sea of fire. Shiro Yamazaki's eyes sprayed with bloodthirsty fierce light, and he waved his command knife and shouted, "Fight! Let the Chi Na Army taste the taste of the Imperial Army's shells! "
Japanese shelling continued from the early morning of December 9 until dawn on December 10. More than 5,000 shells were fired at the highlands of the Indian garrison, and the 5338 highlands were cut by nearly a foot by the shells. At the end of the day, the sound of Japanese shelling gradually faded. The enemy launched a general attack on the 5338 heights. More than 2,000 Japanese soldiers organized into a dense suicide squad and rushed up.
Commander Chen of the Eighty-Eighth Regiment jumped out of the bunker and shouted to the soldiers, "Brothers, the devil's abilities are exhausted!" Now it's time to watch us! "
Almost at the same time as Commander Chen, Commander Yang of the Ninety Regiment also jumped out of the bunker and shouted to the soldiers: "Brothers, kill!" Avenge the sacrifice of the brethren! "
At this time, I saw a seventeen or eighteen-year-old light machine gunner jump up with a gun, his eyes spewing out hatred and anger, and shouted: "I hate Japanese devils, I hate it!" To come to India is to avenge the deaths of the villagers! Don't win the battle, no face to see the father and elder of the hometown! Shouting, he pulled the bolt of his gun and swept a vengeful magazine at the enemy soldiers. For a moment, the officers and men of the Indian army stationed in the 5338 Mountains were furious, mortars, light and heavy machine guns, Tom guns, carbines... They opened fire on the enemy soldiers in unison. The sound of the guns of the Indian troops drowned out everything, like a fiery fire burning towards the enemy.
However, the first group of Japanese soldiers fell, and the second team of Japanese soldiers pounced; the second team of Japanese soldiers fell, and the third team of Japanese soldiers rushed forward... Near noon, the Japanese finally broke through a gap from the left wing of the 5338 highlands and rushed into two brigades of the Indian position at once.
The left flank positions of the 5338th Highlands were defended by the 90th Regiment. Commander Yang saw two or three hundred Japanese soldiers rushing in with dangling bayonets in their hands, and he clenched his hands into two fists and angrily threw out a sentence: "Five-three-three-eight highland is not eight Mo!" He immediately grabbed the telephone microphone and issued an order to the second battalion, which was holding the left position: "In order to reduce casualties, try to avoid fighting with the enemy with bayonets." Sweep me with a machine gun! Bombard me with artillery! Putting down the phone, he issued an order to the first battalion over the wireless telephone: "Quickly reinforce the second battalion!" "
The first battalion received the order and immediately drew a company and a mortar platoon to the left flank position. Suddenly, all kinds of advanced weapons of the troops stationed in India opened fire on the Japanese soldiers at the same time, and the flickering light of the fire reflected half the sky. The Japanese were finally defeated.
Until the sun set, Yamazaki Shiro launched fifteen large-scale suicide charges against the 5338 Highlands, all of which ended in failure. Bai Bai left more than 1,200 corpses in front of the indian army position. In the evening, Yamazaki saw that he had no power to return to heaven, so he had to abandon a large amount of weapons and equipment and flee into the dense forest.
At the time when the Thirty Divisions fought fiercely on the 5338 Heights. The Eighty-ninth Regiment of the Right Wing Army marched from Manxi to the first line in the rain, crossed the deep ravine, and secretly reached the outskirts of Nankan.
The 114th Regiment also made rapid progress. Under the leadership of Li Zaisheng, the vanguard company of the regiment smuggled across the Ruili River at one o'clock in the middle of the night, completely annihilated a small detachment of the Japanese army, and covered the safe crossing of the river by the large troops. And cut off all supplies and support for the Japanese army, making Nankan a dead city.
The rest of the troops stationed in India also entered the battle position on time. At this point, the Chinese army in India has completed the encirclement of Nankan.
On January 15, 1945, the units of the New First Army, supported by chariots, various artillery pieces, and powerful air force firepower, launched a general attack on Nankan. At about 10:00 a.m., the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 90th Regiment first broke into Nankan, and other units also attacked the city one after another, and then after fierce street battles, the Chinese garrison in India captured the city at noon on the same day.
In the battle, a total of 1,780 Japanese troops were killed, twelve enemy prisoners were captured, twelve cannons, twelve cars, one car, five hundred and seventy-five machine guns and rifles, and more than ten military warehouses were captured.